Editor’s Note: Today’s post has been dedicated to Karen Molenaar Terrell. Her WordPress site is called The Madcap Christian Scientist and she always makes me happy when I read her thoughts. Merry Christmas Karen!

Having been on the road for fifty hours a week since Thanksgiving, I have been hard pressed to find time to reflect on another Christmas Season. Frankly, I haven’t felt all that joyful. Joy is hard to find in the work I do with foster children but I keep trying to touch a few hearts. Which brings me to this great edict from the Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. It seems to me that we waste far too much time arguing about whose right or whose wrong, whose good or whose bad and whose responsible or whose not. All this wasted effort flies in the face of the reason we have celebrated Christmas for centuries.

Jesus was born, lived and died a good man because he spent every minute of his existence serving others. That’s what it means to be a good man, nothing more and nothing less. It’s not complicated and it should be overwhelmingly obvious given all the inhumanity we have at present. Here is the only person in the history of the world who defined goodness for all to see and understand. He spent his life with sinners, outcasts and heathens of every kind and in the end he laid down his life for his fellow man. By fulfilling his destiny, he earned the right to ascend into Heaven.

Those of us who came after him have no excuse for not following in his footsteps. The message doesn’t get any clearer than this. We can’t go through life hating others and then beg for forgiveness with our last breath. “Be one,” that’s a moral imperative if there ever was one. Now, more than ever, we need this guiding principle and Christmas is the perfect time to commit ourselves to His cause, saving all of humanity for eternity.

I’m done with words and those who only talk. I want to spend the rest of my days being one with God and man. I will spend no more of my precious time arguing over semantics or perpetually defending my faith. If others can’t figure out what it takes to be one then maybe they should join me in my work with foster kids. I can promise you this much, once you experience the depths of humanity from my daily perspective you won’t be worried about finding the right words to describe goodness. It will be shockingly obvious to even the most stubborn among us. I can’t explain goodness but I can surely show it to you, any day of the week. Once you find it, you will be changed forever. That may be too scary for some people, but there is no other way to be one. This is life and death for all of us. Does anyone really believe they are going to Heaven because they said all the right things? Want to bet on that?

Mark Twain made this wonderful observation about our relationship with God and it is the essence of the Christmas Spirit, “None of us can be as great as God but any of us can be as good.” Now go forth and be one.

One Response to “Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.” (Marcus Aurelius)

Wow! I’ve never had a blog post dedicated to me before – I am really touched by this post, Guy! I love the thoughts you’ve shared here – beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! You write: “I’m done with words and those who only talk. I want to spend the rest of my days being one with God and man. I will spend no more of my precious time arguing over semantics or perpetually defending my faith. If others can’t figure out what it takes to be one then maybe they should join me in my work with foster kids. I can promise you this much, once you experience the depths of humanity from my daily perspective you won’t be worried about finding the right words to describe goodness.” RIGHT ON!!! Keep on shining your light, my friend!